Few people know Giovanni van Bronckhorst any better than Jan Wouters.
When the current Rangers boss first arrived at Ibrox as a player in 1998, Wouters was a coach working under Dick Advocaat. And when van Bronckhorst became a gaffer for the first time at Feyenoord 17 years later, he made Wouters one of his assistants. The 62-year-old has taken a keener interest in Rangers’ results since his fellow Dutchman took over from Steven Gerrard 12 months ago. He was full of admiration – but not surprise – at the job he did in leading the club to the Europa League Final in May. And Wouters is now well aware of how things have turned sour for van Bronckhorst at Ibrox.
The club were humiliated in the Champions League as six straight group-stage defeats saw them labelled the tournament’s worst team ever. Even worse, dropping seven points in their last five Premiership games has left Gers trailing Celtic by nine at the top of the Premiership table. Van Bronckhorst is now fighting for his future at Ibrox, with a large section of the support wanting him sacked. Wouters is adamant the Dutchman won’t walk away, irrespective of how tough it gets.
